The present invention relates to determining and recording a geometry of a railroad track. It finds particular application in conjunction with determining and recording a geometry of a railroad track for a vehicle riding on the track and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention is also amendable to other like applications.
Heretofore, track geometry systems determine and record geometries of railroad tracks used by railroad cars. Each railroad car includes a body secured to a truck, which rides on the track. Conventional systems use a combination of inertial and contact sensors to indirectly measure and quantify the geometry of the track. More specifically, an inertial system mounted on a railroad car senses a motion of the car""s body. A plurality of transducers measure a relative motion of the car""s body to the truck. Similarly, other transducers measure a relative motion of the truck to the track.
One drawback of conventional systems is that a significant number of errors occur from transducer failures. Furthermore, significant errors also result from a lack of direct measurements of the required quantities.
Furthermore, conventional inertial systems typically use off-the-shelf gyroscopes and other components, which are designed for military and aviation applications. Such off-the-shelf components are designed for high rates of inertial change found in military and aircraft applications. Therefore, components used in conventional systems are poorly suited for the relatively low amplitude and slow varying signals seen in railroad applications. Consequently, conventional systems compromise accuracy in railroad applications.
Furthermore, no current device or system allows for the inspection of rail track structures, such that determinations of track safety is determined in real time.
The present invention provides a new and improved apparatus and method which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.
A track analyzer included on a vehicle traveling on a track includes a vertical gyroscope for determining a grade and an elevation of the track. A rate gyroscope determines a curvature of the track. A speed determiner determines a speed of the vehicle relative to the track. A distance determiner determines a distance the vehicle has traveled along the track. A computing device, communicating with the vertical gyroscope, the rate gyroscope, the speed determiner, and the distance determiner, a) identifies a plurality of parameters as a function of the grade, elevation, and curvature of the track, b) determines in real-time if the parameters are within acceptable tolerances, and, c) if the parameters are not within the acceptable tolerances, generates corrective measures.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a video display device communicates with the computing device. The corrective measures include messages displayed on the video display device.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an analog-to-digital converter converts analog signals from the vertical gyroscope, the rate gyroscope, the speed determiner, and the distance determiner into respective digital signals which are transmitted to the computing device.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the vertical gyroscope includes an inner gimbal, an outer gimbal, and a spin motor. The spin motor creates an inertial force. The grade and the elevation of the track are determined by motions of the inner and outer gimbals against the inertial force.
In accordance with a more limited aspect of the invention, the inner gimbal determines the grade of the track and the outer gimbal determines the elevation of the track.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a look-up table, which communicates with the computing device, stores the acceptable tolerances.
In accordance with a more limited aspect of the invention, the acceptable tolerances identify urgent defects and priority defects. The corrective measures include actions to be implemented substantially immediately for urgent defects and actions to not be implemented substantially immediately for priority defects.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the acceptable tolerances include curve elevation tolerances and maximum allowable runoff tolerances.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the speed determiner includes a toothed gear having teeth passing a sensor for inducing a voltage in a coil. A frequency of the voltage is proportional to a speed of the vehicle relative to the track.
One advantage of the present invention is that it allows inspection of rail track structures for determining track safety in real time.
Another advantage of the present invention is that direct measurements of the required quantities reduce the numbers of errors even more.
Still further advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.